On Saturday, February 4, 100 singers from six different schools and parishes around the Diocese of Phoenix and Tucson gathered for the annual 2023 Pueri Cantores Phoenix Festival at St. Mary’s Basilica, where they joined in voice to bring to life the beautiful music from the Church’s rich historical repertoire. Bishop Olmsted celebrated the Festival Mass. Participants included St. John Bosco (Phoenix), St. Mary Magdalene Church (Gilbert), St. Vincent de Paul (Phoenix), Annunciation Catholic School (Cave Creek), St. Thomas the Apostle School (Phoenix), and St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church (Scottsdale). Dr. Alfred Calabrese, Director of Music at St. Rita Catholic Church, Dallas, TX served as the guest conductor and rehearsed and led the combined choir on the Festival day.
This Festival is part of the American Federation Pueri Cantores’ (AFPC) 2023 Festival season, which includes fourteen choral Festivals across the country this year. Pueri Cantores, which means “young singers,” consists of 32 federations worldwide and is the office student choral organization of the Roman Catholic Church. Each of these events brings together several hundred young students who, under the direction of a nationally recognized Catholic choral director, rehearse and perform sacred liturgical music together. These festivals provide a unique opportunity to educate and engage these young singers in their faith and the arts, and through them, enrich the lives of their families and communities. Learn more about AFPC at pcchoirs.org.
More photos, information, and/or statements are available upon request. kathleen@pcchoirs.org
